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How to Rank Your Digital Banking Team Against the Competition: Offensive Lineup

Editor's note: In Part One of our football blog series, we discuss what positions would make up the ultimate digital banking offensive line.

Tis the season. So, would it surprise you to find out that a football team and a financial institution’s digital banking strategy have a lot in common? To be successful, both must effectively leverage all the resources at their disposal to win. And, some teams – like digital banking strategies – are simply better than others. Check out our take on what positions would make up the ultimate digital banking football team.

Head Coach - Scouting Report The head coach shoulders the responsibility of developing a successful team and ensuring the players are performing to their full potential. If the team is going to have a successful year, it's paramount that the coaches and players are on the same page. Similarly, an open and collaborative relationship between a FI and its digital banking partner is crucial to achieving a successful digital strategy. However, to ensure that the team has the best digital banking provider possible, there must be a thorough scouting report on the options available. There are a lot of options, and finding a vendor that shares the team’s strategic goals, direction and vision for the future requires a smart head coach with the information needed to find that fit.

Offensive Coordinator - Calling the Right Play Without a strong offensive unit that combines the best players with the most effective playbook and game plan, there is no football team. Savvy teams have a wide variety of plays that can be called, giving the team the opportunity to score in different situations. The goal for the offense on digital teams is to meet and exceed customer expectations. That means having a playbook of data that can be used to anticipate customer and member needs and then providing personalized offers tailored to those needs. FIs must execute plays that will turn the personalized data they have into actionable information, allowing them to score with their current users and stay yards ahead of the competition.

Quarterback - Supporting the Head Coach The quarterback supports the strategy the head coach has developed and must be prepared to execute on a new set of plays if the conditions of the game change. With more consumers accessing financial services via online or mobile channels, the digital platform is often the starting point for customer or member interactions. Like quarterbacks, the platform must be able to successfully execute on the strategy the digital leadership of a bank or credit union has decided to pursue. And, just like the QB, that platform must be able to support the head coach when the conditions of the game change. In the digital world, that means supporting a growing set of devices, features and functions in a fashion that delivers innovation to the market quickly.

Running Back - Keep Up with the Times Running backs are an essential part of every game strategy. In digital banking, it is important to make sure that the established way of doing things is not automatically accepted as the new way of doing things. For example, when offering consumers the ability to move money via digital channels, financial institutions must break free of the old form of doing things. To meet customer expectations, they must offer new value added services by using data to enhance how and what is offered.

Wide Receiver - New Account Opening The wide receiver is among the most confident and impactful players on the field. In digital banking, keeping pace with the innovations and improvements consumers want changes the game for banks and credit unions and gives them a competitive advantage in the marketplace. For example, today’s mobile account opening process must be quick, reliable and simple to use. For this reason, financial institutions that have their eyes on winning the game can no longer afford to offer this service in a form that is cumbersome.

Offensive Line - Quick Balance The offensive line protects the quarterback and leverages strength as well as quickness to force the defense into positions that allow running backs and receivers to do their work. In order for digital banking users to get where they want to go, financial institutions must continually look for ways to quickly deliver the services their end users want. As soon as customers or members get hit with a barrier that slows their progress, the greater the likelihood that they will lose their forward progress. Many institutions have launched “quick view” capabilities that allow consumers to see their balances, recent transactions and other high level data points in one place without requiring a login. This keeps these end users happy and moving forward.

Check back next week for part two of this series, in which we’ll discuss the defensive lineup of the digital banking football team.